New Castle, Colorado

The Town of New Castle is a home rule municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 4,923 at the 2020 census.

History When New Castle was incorporated in 1888, its economy was largely based on mining coal that was needed by the silver-mining industry to fire silver smelters. On February 18, 1896, a methane explosion in the Vulcan Mine killed 49 men and started a coal fire that was still burning as of 2020. The Vulcan reopened and suffered additional explosions on December 12, 1913 (killing 37) and November 4, 1918 (killing 3).

There are at least 25 coal fires burning near the town. They are normally confined underground.

From 2000 - 2014 the population grew 129%, much higher than the average growth in Colorado over the same period (20.8%).

Geography New Castle is located on the north side of the Colorado River, just east of where the river cuts through the Grand Hogback. Interstate 70 passes by the town following the river, with access from Exit 105. I-70 leads east to Glenwood Springs, the county seat, east to Denver, and west to Grand Junction. U.S. Route 6 is Main Street in New Castle and forms a parallel route to I-70 for local traffic. US-6 joins I-70 to the east at Chacra and to the west at a point west of Rifle. Elk Creek flows along the west side of New Castle and has its confluence with the Colorado River just south of Interstate 70.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.21%, is water.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, New Castle had a population of 4,923. The median age was 36.3 years. 26.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 97.1 males age 18 and over.

98.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,816 households in New Castle, of which 37.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 54.1% were married-couple households, 17.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 1,893 housing units, of which 4.1% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 4.5%.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 3,420 69.5% Black or African American 20 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native 75 1.5% Asian 51 1.0% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.0% Some other race 666 13.5% Two or more races 691 14.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 1,457 29.6% Education New Castle is within Garfield Re-2 School District. The town is home to two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school: Elk Creek Elementary School Kathryn Senor Elementary School Riverside Middle School Coal Ridge High School

New Castle, Colorado

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